[Drama therapy for the prevention of workplace violence]

To achieve, through a training and preventive intervention, a significant change in the emotional experience of a group of health care professionals at risk of exposure to workplace violence.

143 Catalonian health professionals participated in a training course on occupational risk prevention that incorporated theatrical staging techniques and psychotherapeutic strategies, focused on the interpretation of emotional experiences associated with violence in the workplace. They participated voluntarily in the program and were selectedaccording to type of healthcare delivered and professional diversity. A pre- and post-course questionnaire was administered.

Ninety-two percent of respondents claimed to have witnessed, and 85% had personally experienced, a violent episode in the previous five years. The comparison of mean scores before and after the training intervention revealed anincrease in the positive assessment of the effectiveness of one's own performance and communication skills (p< 0.001), and induced emotional experiences in line with a greater peace of mind (p< 0.005) and less anxiety (p< 0.005) with respect to the violent incident.

Staging experiential stressful situations can be a useful learning tool for managing emotions, which increases the perceived degree of one's ability to manage communication, teamwork and professional stress itself.